Knockdown woven furniture



May 3, 1932. J. J. BUTZEN 1,856,315

KNOCKDOWN WOVEN FURNI TURB Filed Dec. '7, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 my mm.

I WW" 4M4? L9 w/ r/wesslss ATTORNEV May 3, 1932. J; j BUTZEN 1,856,315

KNOCKDOWN WOVEN FURNITURE Filed Dec. 7, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 :EfIga .3

,22 I55 Q. 44 25 1 26 J 'v vvvn WW W/ TNE 55155 YEN TOR A T TORNE V Patented May 3, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN J. BUTZEN, F SHEBOYGAN, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN CHAIR COM- PANY, OF SHEBOYGAN, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN KNOCKDOWN WOVEN FURNITURE Application filed. December 7, 1929. Serial No. 412,339.

commonly known as fibre furniture, renders a; the shipping costs of this type of furniture comparatively high 11otwithstanding its relatircly inexpensive construction. With other types of furniture, luiock-down construction has heretofore been resorted to for facilitating packing and reducing); shipping; costs, but

the expedients in use are not adaptable to woven furniture. In the case of certain types of fibre arm chairs, for example, weaving cpcrations require he use of a single curved fran'ie member to support the upper portions of the lltlC'l l and arms.

An object of the present 'illVQil'blCll is to c struct an article of woven furniture in sues manner as to permit compact packing and inexpensive shipment without interfer ng with loom operations. the knock-down character of the article of :lurniture bein inconspicuous after the article is assembled and in use.

The invention further consists in the scvoral featm'cs hereinafter set forth and more pz'irticularly defined by the annexed claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective View of an assembled woven fibre arm chair embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective exploded view of the arm chair;

Fig. 3 is a fra 'mentary perspective Viewof the frame stru 5 as it appears before the weaving operations:

Fig. 4. is a side elevation of a knock-down assentibly of the chair as it appears ready for shipment, and

il fit}; 5 is an enl View of the knock-down assembly.

in these drawings. the numeral. designates a seat frame having a d ndingg' front rail 11 which may in some in 1 aces be provided with a facit 12 of woven. material. The seat frame 10 l soured to fr at and rear leg: members 13 and ly-i respectively forming part of a pair of side fran'ies 15, which may or may not be provided with detachable rockers 1G. 'ihe upper portions of the front lee members 13 may be wound with fibre as usual and the upper ends of these leg mem- CHlBQd by A in Fig. 3.

hers may be curved outwardly, as seen in Fig. 1, to facilitate the formation of broad arm rests. The rear leg members 14 are secured to the side frame members 17 of a back frame 18, the edges of the frame members 17 being concavely recessed to receive the rounded leg members. The side frames may also be oined by transversely-extending rounds 19 having reduced ends fitting in sockets 20 formed in the side frames. A seat cushion 21 is mounted on the seat frame 10, as seen in Fig. 1.

As seen in Fig. 8, the upper portions of the side frames 15 and back frame 18 are originally formed of a single curved Wooden frame member 22, which is secured to the front and rear leg members 13 and 1d and to the s de frame members 17 of the back frame. Fibre facings 23 are woven onto the side portions of the curved frame member 22 and the front leg members 13 to form the side panels of the chair, and a fibre facing 24 is woven to the back portions of the curved frame member 22 to form a back panel. In some instances the upper portions of the facing 24 embracing the frame member 22 may be omitted. The ends of the strands of the facings 23 and 24. are turned under at those points of the frame member 22 where this frame member is joined to the rear lee; members 14; and back frame side members 17. Tl'iese points of the frame member are indi- After the weaving on the back frame and side frames is compie/136d, the curved frame member 22 is cut at the points A to thus separate the back frame or nanel from the side frames or panels. as indicated in Fig. 2.

In packing the chair for shipment. the two side frames 15 are placed in substantially parallel relation w th their outer faces inncrmost and their upper flaring; wine portions in abutting: relation, seen in Fig. 5. 'lhe space which left between the side frames is OCCUPlMl by the seat frame, the seat cushion and the back frame. in the almttino paral el relation seen in F g". 5. the front rail 11 of the seat frame being; lower most. The rounds 19 and the rockers 16 (when used) may be lashed to the outside of one of the side frames as seen in Fig. 4:, and the whole assembly may be suitably tied in place. If necessary, additional packing material may be inserted between abutting pieces of the chair to avoid chafing. The compactly arranged tied assembly is then placed in a rectangular carton 25 which is of comparatively small size, and the knockdown chair is then ready for shipment.

To assemble the chair, the several frames are secured together in abutting relation by means of screws 26 or other suitable fastening elements to form a rigid structure. This is accomplished by securing the rear leg members 14 and the frame members 17 together, and securing the seat frame 10 to the front and rear legs of the side frames. When thus assembled, the upper edge of the chair has a continuous unbroken appearance which renders inconspicuous the knock-down character of the chair. The upper edge of the chair is smoothly curved since the frame member 22 is originally formed in one piece.

hat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of building knock-down woven furniture, which consists in providing a frame member forming in common the upper portions of back and side frames, applying woven back and side fac ngs to the unitary frame structure with their edge portions adjacent, and then severing said frame member at two points between the edge portions of said facings to separate the back frame from the side frames.

2. A knock-down chair comprising a seat frame, a pair of side frames removably secured to said seat frame, a back frame removably secured to said side frames, sa d side frames and back frame having laterally abutting upright frame bars at their separable edges and having complementary curvilinear upper frame bars arranged in endwise alignment and overlying and secured to the upper ends of the frame bars of said side frames and back frame, and woven facings for said frames secured to said upper frame bars and at their upper edge portions presenting a smooth continuous curve extending across the junctions of said endwise aligned frame members.

3. The method of building knock-down woven furniture, which consists in providing a facing-supporting frame member forming in common the upper portions of back and side frames, securing end portions of two pairs of parallel bars to said frame member to form the opposite uprights of the back frame and the rear uprights of the side frames, each pair of said bars being disposed in adjacent relation, and then severing the upper frame member at two points between the respective pairs of sa d parallel bars.

In testimony whereof. I affix my signature.

JOHN J. BUTZEN. 

